But there are many that embrace it. I think I first realized this about 10 years ago when I was in the automotive section at Target and noticed the Sponge Bob and Power Puff Girls seat covers. It actually didn’t make sense when I first saw them. Why are there kids things in the automotive section? Then I remembered all of the people I knew over the age of 20 that watched shows like that.

The really good shows are made with a level of quality that kids can’t appreciate, which is good since they struggle to keep up with it and therefore strive higher, as opposed to dumb shows that speak down to kids and keep them down there.
@Masked Man
my childhood spent watching Anamaniacs, Freakazoid, and Beast Wars proves my point perfectly

@Space Butler: Exactly. All of the cartoons I most enjoyed as a kid sparked my curiosity quite often, and it seems I increasingly understand and laugh at them the older I grow. Any residual stigma that animation (and non-grimdark video gaming) is only appropriate for kids needs to evaporate.

I agree with Space Butler. I love Spongebob as an adult with no kids because it’s a really smart show written by adults for people with less worldly experience. Kids aren’t stupid, they’re inexperienced. They learn through the things we do every day, so there’s no reason to treat them like they’re mentally challenged.

nostalgia keeps us from moving forward, it traps us in the past, it does not helps us discover who or what we really are, just forms a mobuis strip of our memories….recognise the past for what it is…the past..

…and no, Biff, trying to see if your old clothes still fit years later might not work.
Hell, at my 10 year high school reunion, I wore a shirt from 10 years ago. It still fits, but I hardly wear it now.

The kings of it all, Warner Brothers animation department artists: The animators weren’t making Bugs and Daffy and Taz (etc) for children or even adults. They were creating these cartoons for themselves. Getting paid for it and showing them to others were just a bonus to these guys. That’s why it was high quality stuff.

Ah, yes Invader Zim, Animaniacs and SpongeBob…Great stuff! I think animated shows are less scrutinized by censors thus terrific series’ sneak on until enough hype generates a network “look see.” As for marketing products… an American given. See Biff do cultural adaptation.

Spongebob was written for a dual audience. Watch it as a kid, and you get certain jokes easy. Watch it as an adult, and there are things you know now that you can laugh at that just sail over most kids’ heads.

All people who buy gameboys and their counterparts secretively do so to play Pokemon, no matter what they say! For some reason the same people seemingly have to pretend that it’s “a stupid thing for little kids”.

A lot of animated series’ are written for dual audiences, The Simpsons being one of the most obvious. Wallace & Gromit, Animaniacs and Dangermouse (a British cartoon shown on Nickelodeon in the 80′s) are among my favorites.

I am nearly fifty years old, and I make no excuse for my love of animation. As a young adult, I used to get up early on Saturday morning to watch my cartoons, and I still watch it when I find something I like. I loved (and have the box sets) of Animaniacs, Tiny Toons, Pinky and the Brain and the Tic, I liked Spongebob, Dexter’s Lab and Jimmy Neutron, and I sometimes watch Pokemon and Pretty Cure (although that is mostly to bug my kids). Not to mention the adult stuff like Venture Brothers, Frisky Dingo, Robot Chicken and Drawn Together.

All this and no mention of Rocko? THAT show was made by people who didn’t know anything about kids shows but knew what was funny. A few episodes were pulled from broadcast because they were too adult, and Nickelodeon was convinced it should be sold as a kid’s series.